This is the first in a series of regular reports to be provided to this news service by Wealthmonitor, which will prove to be must-read items for people prospecting for clients and watching trends in the industry.

This is the first of a series of regular reports to be provided to this news service by Wealthmonitor, which we hope and expect will be must-read items for people prospecting for clients and watching trends in the industry.

More firms got bought and sold last year and initial public offerings on the world’s stock markets also rose in 2013 from a year before, while data reveals that a total of 2,685 people benefited from liquidity events totaling $9.919 billion by value in the 30 days to the end of February.

In data released by HNW individual data provider Wealthmonitor to this publication, as part of a regular snapshot of liquidity events and the geographic location of these developments, it is revealed that, in 2013, there were 85 IPOs in December alone, up from 51 in the same month of 2012.

While a snapshot of such figures cannot tell the whole story about who benefits from liquidity events or where their wealth resides, it can prove useful over time for wealth management to see any trend in terms of those countries seeing more rapid growth in numbers of potential clients, and the pace of growth. This publication has already produced specific reports about certain trends based on Wealthmonitor figures. (See here, for example.)

A breakdown of results by jurisdiction shows that for “deals” – a term covering events such as M&A transactions – the US accounted for $104.565 billion in total value in December 2013, comprising 353 deals; in December 2012, a larger number of deals (472) comprised a smaller total value, at $91.313, the data showed. In second place last year for the value of deals was Russia ($15.005 billion); deal sizes were more evenly distributed in December 2012, when Russian deal values totaled $33.512, but Russia ranked 15th in value terms.

In December 2013, China had the largest number of IPOs (19), followed by Japan (15); US (10); Hong Kong (6); Italy (4); Australia (4); Poland (3); India (3); UK (2); Indonesia (2); Hong Kong (2) and Singapore (1). In December a year earlier, however, Japan had the largest number, at 10, followed by India at 6, China at five, and Taiwan at five.

To view more data and information from Wealthmonitor, click on its website here.